Starting off this essayish thing: I don't care about the multiplayer, it's not relevant to Halo as far as i'm concerned and I will not discuss it. Multiplayer is just repackaged and given new mechanics every time and it's not what HAlo 4 should be all about. Henceforth the campaign of Halo 4 is what really turned me off. I played it for 9 hours the very day I got it, without stopping to do anything but eat, drink coffee, and piss. I was completely underwhelmed. So underwhelmed it felt like my mind was falling asleep and going numb. The campaign of Halo 4 was a painful experience for me.

What could possible my one's mind go numb? Well, perhaps it was the cut scenes that dragged on for eternity that I really couldn't care less about. In previous Halo games there was some brief yet concise discourse with some characters of the game, master chief would be his usual silent self and cortana would talk to you during the game. Well in this game, there's way too many cut scenes just involving cortana when you have to insert her chip into something so she could talk to you. I wonder why chief didn't just -blam!- leave her in there sometimes and just save himself the trouble of having to listen to cortanas deteriorating -blam!- ass.

Not to mention the story mode. What the -blam!- is going on? All I know is cortana's stupid -blam!- ass probably awoke that guy who flies around in that stupid ball. In the previous games you knew that you had a simple goal; stop the religious bastards from ongoing the great journey with the -blam!- Halo rings. I stomped their sorry asses in the other games, listened to grunts say humorous things while being surrounded by team mates who would also have cute little witty dialog whilst you play. In Halo 4, it seems like the people i'm working with are completely moronic -blam!- -blam!-s. Who's that guy who was calling out cheif and telling people to arrest him? Who was that girl who was like "You're shorter than I imagined." -blam!- HER! SHE'S TALKING TO MASTER MOTHER -blam!- CHIEF, 3 TIME HERO OF THE MOTHER -blam!- GALAXY! You're treated like you're some louse in this game.

Gameplay was abysmal. Isn't that what it all comes down to in the end? There's games that have no story that I'm still happy to play, such as DOOM. Halo 4 had too much -blam!- story that I didn't care about while the gameplay suffered immensely. The entire campaign was just a few new vehicles you get to either pilot or in one case, stand on. I couldn't help but feel a little funny doing the driving course near the beginning of the game and being reminded of the end of Halo 3 and thinking, what's the point of this so early? Not to mention the check points were extremely poorly spaced out. There were times when it would take me a -blam!- hour just to get to the next check point because, in the sense of wanting to get things done efficiently, preserving ammo, or just plane sucking, I would die. The game is very unforgiving. The enemies weren't terrible, it was just a little annoying how those dog things kept -blam!- hounding me constantly. Just too many forerunner enemy. You're not battling enemies with voices or consciousness, you're battling some stupid faceless enemy and it's boring as -blam!-. The covenant don't seem to show up as much as the forerunners either.

I have been a Halo fan ever since I first set my young little eyes on a master chief statue at a mall when I was young (around the time of Halo 2). I now possess that master chief statue. I remember playing Halo 2 at whoever's house I went over to until I finally found an Xbox at a garage sail at around the time when the Xbox 360 came out, when I finally got Halo 2 and Halo CE. Perfect time for me to make the transition into Halo 3. Halo 3, I had the most expectation of any game in my entire life and I loved it to death until Halo reach came out. I always proclaimed that Halo is my favorite game series of all time. 343 is royally -blam!- that up. I may not be the most articulate or well read Halo fan. I couldn't tell you anything about the Halo books or the story line, but I play the game over and over and played the online for Halo 3 for thousands of hours. It was my first ever online experience. Said I wasn't going to talk about online, but that's important to my point. Halo is a very important part of my life. 343 has no clue what they're doing. PERIOD.

The campaign is weak. I have little desire to finish it, other than wanting to feel like I got my money's worth out of the game. The MP is fun but it feels less like a Halo game and more like a random FPS because of all the new (to Halo) mechanics they put in. If it was called "Space Marine Kills Aliens #82342" instead of "Halo 4" no one would care about it.

343 definitely deserves props for getting every ounce of performance out of 7 year old hardware they could though. That technical skill just needs to be matched with equally talented game design and (perhaps to a lesser extent) storytelling, and they will be a beast of a developer.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

An earlier post I said it was too easy. And it sort of was. But it's like Batman, where you can kick ass very easy at the beginning but then the game throws out armored guys with heavy weapons at you and stuff. And then either stealth or combat becomes more challenging. Dishonored was the same way. Later in the game they do throw some stuff that's harder to fight and hard to sneak by. I'm satisfied with the challenge.

I played mostly stealthy and as an assassin. So I leveled up my magic powers based on that. I'd say the winning technique I used mostly was dark vision and blink around the place. Possession and stopping time was just for fun but not my main strategy. I liked seeing everything and knowing the safest place to teleport. It worked for me.

The end was kind of anti-climactic. I mean I don't want a Metal Gear Solid 4 movie, but like a decent cutscene would've worked. But story-wise it was a nice resolution and fit my playstyle. Gonna have to play high chaos where I kill everything and a don't kill a thing game sometime to see what happens with those endings.

I just beat it myself and share mostly the same thoughts. The Flooded District was my favorite level for sure, really loved the level design there. The whole game felt really organic, so props to them in that department. It did feel a bit rushed later on though, but the game was still a good length for sure. Is there a perfect ending or something though? I killed stuff and it still seemed really easy to get a low chaos ending.

I guess I can see it being pretty replayable. Doing a no magic run, high chaos, and changing things up.

So yeah, wasn't totally in love at the start but it really grew on me overtime and the game just felt really original compared to what's out there. So definitely one of the best this year I'd say.

If I wanted a Wii U, I would have saved up money for one. I don't though. I got a Wii, however many years ago that piece of useless garbage came out, played twilight princess and loved it, then I hardly touched it again. I have no desire to even start saving up money for one because I'm going to actually wait like a year to see if any good games are coming out for it. There's so much better, less useless things to spend my money on.

For those who didn't play it, Oddworld: Abes Oddysee was a PS1 game that was very enjoyable and fun, but also hard like a son of a bitch. Well, they're remaking it with very similar gameplay and mechanics with upated graphics and capabilities. Their's some footage and its looking good.

A bit unnecessary I'd say. The first two Oddworld's had an amazing look and style that's timeless. Kind of like the Earthworm Jim games, whereas the first one also had a good HD remake done... but it doesn't leave a lasting impression like the originals.

I guess I'll just say 2D HD remakes seem really pointless to me in general. Let's never forget the mess that was Turtles in Time HD as well, yikes.

ALSO, a day later and I already kind of want to replay Dishonored right away. I think Dark Vision took me out of the experience a bit later on, I just kept using it... and it kind of ruins the whole art direction and really enjoying the view. Made the game so easy, but I couldn't stop using it because I got so OCD about finding all the items with it. Wish you could just use it to find items, but not see enemies through walls. I think playing with and without this power makes the game completely different experiences. And doing a high chaos run without it wouldn't cut it, doing a stealthy approach without it would be a lot more intense and prolong the game, maybe even give it a bit more of a Thief vibe. Hmmm...

I just beat it myself and share mostly the same thoughts. The Flooded District was my favorite level for sure, really loved the level design there. The whole game felt really organic, so props to them in that department. It did feel a bit rushed later on though, but the game was still a good length for sure. Is there a perfect ending or something though? I killed stuff and it still seemed really easy to get a low chaos ending.

I guess I can see it being pretty replayable. Doing a no magic run, high chaos, and changing things up.

So yeah, wasn't totally in love at the start but it really grew on me overtime and the game just felt really original compared to what's out there. So definitely one of the best this year I'd say.

My favorite is the Golden Cat. But Flooded District was good from a gameplay perspective. Challenging and a big area.

I killed a lot of stuff at first too. Then I toned down my killing and got the low chaos rating too. I think you pretty much have to play it like Bioshock if you want a high chaos rating. Just run around killing things and using your magic offensively. And that sounds like loads of fun. A no magic run seems cool too. I had enough money to upgrade everything to the max, but I never used the stuff. A no kill run too. Basically going after all the trophies.

This is the kind of game with a good trophy list. It's stuff you should be doing to fully experience the game anyways and not just this busy work for achievement points or some virtual trophy. The dumbest trophies are "Kill 10,000 things" and when you finish the game you've only killed a little over 1,000. Or spend 24 hours doing this thing (no joke Mortal Kombat and Little Big Planet 2 have ones like this). Yeah not gonna bother.

My game backlog is dwindling down. I just have The Last Story and Deus Ex Human Revolution. After those 2 I might give Dishonored another go. I think we got the good ending so I'll go for a high chaos bad ending next time.

As far as the Wii U goes, I'm gonna pass. If it wasn't region-locked, I'd probably pick one up just for shits and giggles. As it is, I do not trust Nintendo to release the games I want to play, and their region-locked systems make importing impossible without cracking my system. Cracking my Wii and importing Xenoblade from EU last year was such an unnecessary headache... I realize they released it in North America eventually, but the whole experience of there being a game I really wanted to play, that had been translated into English for a system I owned, and I wasn't allowed to play it... It was really frustrating.

And I guess it bears mentioning that the only reason I have a Wii is for Xenoblade. I love Zelda, but just couldn't get into motion control, and while Mario Galaxy was fun... Ehhh. So no Wii U for me... unless they do an HD remake of Xenoblade haha

I don't think someone who isn't already a huge fan of Nintendo (1st party) games has a reason to get a WiiU, at least until we know more about MS/Sony new systems, how close to parity the WiiU will come, and how much 3rd party support it will get. One major drawback to the WiiU's controller is that it hurts framerates to have to render visual data twice. But that can be avoided with a pro-controller, and (hopefully) by changing settings either in game or in the OS.

I might get one when they're cheap. I really don't expect it to be able to compete with nextbox and ps4, nor will it have the same popularity among the "casuals" as the Wii. This is both due to differences in the hardware (and Nintendo's apparent business strategy) and the market, as many of those who flocked to the Wii have likely moved on to tablet/smart phone gaming. However, I've never owned a nintendo console and the prospect of 3D mario or zelda in HD seems promising to me. It's also likely that the platform will get more support from Eastern devs than the nextbox (I think it's a toss up as to how well the PS4 will do in Japan at this point). Whether those titles are ever localized is another matter.

tl;dr: WiiU is cool, especially if you love Nintendo. My interest is not that high but I have nothing against it.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

I have experienced pure hatred from Halo 4 -Unlimited-. I hate multiplayer for Halo 4. There has never been a game that evokes me into a state of such blind fury that I should shout profanities for practically no reason.

If kill death ratio wasn't a concern of mine, it would be easy to just roll with it. However, this tiny little trivial, banal facet of the game, kill/death - ratio drives me to insanity. It's exacerbated and blown up stupid-fold by the way the game gives people power weapons and armor abilities.

It does nothing but make the game practically unpredictable and unbearable. There's too many BS weapons such as the grenade pistol. The needler, that's overpowered to death. It gives random power weapons to people through ordinance drops. The bullshit armor abilities. Invisibility? Jet packs? Seeing enemies through objects? Infinite sprint? What the hell is the point!?

Halo 3 had none of that shit. It was just a simple experience and it didn't lead to unbelievable amounts of hate-inducing rage. Not to mention sticky grenades aren't effective. In Halo 4 if you don't throw dead on the mark, your grenade won't hit. They go incredibly slowly too. Not to say I haven't had my fair share of grenade kills. It's just one more numerous complaints I have about Halo 4 online. It's so bad, I literally would rather play counterstrike.

Seriously though, I don't agree with your criticism of the multiplayer. Older Halo's often became tiresome race-to-the-power-weapon fests, and I prefer this to that. Needler is not OP; it was just UNDER powered in every Halo after CE. I agree that grenades are weak but getting kills with them is more satisfying for this reason. I never cared about KDR as long as I go positive I feel good. I go positive in Halo 4 more than I did in Reach. Extrapolate from that what you will.

Anyone play the DMC demo yet?

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

Speaking of Halo I was banned by the moderator of a server for aim-botting because I got 300+ kills I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not, but giving me a sniper rifle and pistol on Blood Gulch should be considered a war crime.

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Empyreal wrote:

Yup, they ripped off Metal Church. Now that you've solved that mystery, Metallica is now dethroned from their place in metal history and will be safely forgotten forever. Good job!

I go positive most of the time in Halo 4 as well, and I played a good bit of 3 and Reach online but not nearly as much as the original when I did LAN's and stuff... so who knows. Still the weapons and balance is a little hilarious and sometimes you kind of just fucking die instantly. Luckily I can't really take Halo seriously anymore at all though and I'm not even sure if there's a way to see my K/D ratio, but I don't really care to.

I'll agree to some random criticism I've heard elsewhere about the maps though, 80% of them are just circles. And I am so damn sick of Ragnarok/Valhalla, the mech's are way overpowered.

On the other hand CoD boils my piss because killstreaks ruin the entire thing and Black Ops 2 just sounds like a clusterfuck from what I'm hearing. I haven't played since CoD4 and MW2 (which I hated after awhile) and don't plan too over again. I can just simply tell it's not my thing anymore and tiny maps are not for me.

I've never been able to get into Team Fortress 2.

I'll keep playing Halo 4 off and on, but just like the previous titles, it's only fun with friends. I miss a good online FPS that I can jump into alone... last one I really got hooked on was Bad Company 2. Battlefield 3 really didn't look or sound all that great from the things I heard after it was out. I like long range combat, vehicles, more objectives... BC2 was just damn perfect for me. Hopefully they make another or maybe there's an FPS out there I'm missing out on right now, no idea.

I watched some people play Black Ops 2 tonight. I can't take most FPS seriously. After playing Counter-strike 1.6 for years, shit like Call of Duty, Halo, et al. is just ridiculously simplified/polished/dumbed down/commercialized. They're more like arcade games than actual shooters. BLEH.

_________________and we are bornfrom the same womband hewn fromthe same stone - Primordial, "Heathen Tribes"

Halo isn't very arcady, but a lot of that is up to the players. I suck at Halo, so if you were to watch me play it might look arcady. But when you have people who are really good at the game, know the intricacies of the weapons, and play on CRT to avoid lag, there is a lot of nuance and skill involved.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

I haven't played it much yet, will get on that, I played the shit out of Reach online - reached Forerunner rank and around 80,000 kills, so It's hard to get used to something different, but the little I played wasn't too bad.

Just started playing Hitman: Absolution. It's not as good as Blood Money was so far in some ways (I preferred BM's interface, options, and menus in general) but I applaud that it tries new things. Instincts mode is way less lame than I expected (it's the same thing as Detective Vision and Dark Vision. Does every stealth game nowadays have to have this?). The game is still as challenging as the series has always been but the addition of "challenges" really bums me out. They're kind of like achievements with descriptions about how to get them that you access in the pause menu but, here's the catch, a lot of them give a way pretty much every cool way to take out a target. What the fuck is that? I miss spending an hour on a Hitman level, relying only on patience and observation to execute it perfectly. Now all I have to do is press pause and see "you poisonned the mark's drugs, +5%". More thoughts to come.

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theposaga about a Moonblood rehearsal wrote:

So good. Makes me want to break up with my girlfriend, quit my job and never move out of my parents house. Just totally destroy my life for Satan.

The missions are too long and repetitive. The narrative moves at a snail's pace until the last quarter of the campaign, and it's not even that sensible. Lack of enemy variation. It's easy to find things that are wrong with the Halo 4 SP.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

It kind of gets on my nerves when people say that I just suck at the game. I haven't gotten pissed off when I played counterstrike: source this morning and yesterday night. Kind of bizarre how I can play that game for hours on end when I can't play another for even one match before rage quitting. That's because CS:S doesn't suck. I haven't really liked CS:S In the past, but playing a shit game like Halo 4 war games (I called it -unlimited- before) has really opened my mind.

Too long? No way... the campaign is short as hell, probably 6 hours long max.

So not worth the purchase at all right now if all you want is the campaign.

I said the missions were too long, not the campaign itself. They go on and on, and I almost always lose interest and just can't wait to get to the next check point so I can stop playing. The lengt is not as muc of a problem as the lack of variety in environments. There was some nice eye candy in the game, but the level design was pretty bad aesthetically. Lots of boring corridors. The game's not terrible, just painfully average. Except for the graphics, those are incredible especially considering the 360s limitations.

It's taken me longer than six hours to get through the campaign on Heroic--I'm still only on mission 7. But sometimes I die a lot.

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John_Sunlight wrote:

Also to the guy who won't check out something amateurish: how are you into metal??

I love the Assassin's Creed main games (the first to a lesser degree), but $29.99 for more AC3 missions or more for deluxe content? Fuck off, I already was fooled by the ME3 deluxe. What kind of lame ass people are they to hold off on everything just to squeeze another game's worth of a price as extra shit. I'll wait for my fun, and that includes buying AC3 with or without the dlc, thanks.

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gomorro wrote:

Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...

Just finished the singleplayer campaign of Medal of Honor Warfighter. I didn't care for it much. The gameplay was I suppose good enough but definitely nothing special. Just a standard fps.But storywise I was dissapointed. Take for example Call of Duty Black Ops (the first one, haven't played the second one yet) With that game I was into it. I kept playing to see what would happen next.Now I just continued to see if something would happen. Turns out nohting really happens. I wouldn't recommend it to people just interested in the singeplayer.

Hitman Absolution & Dishonered are up next and I'm getting Assassins Creed 3 for the pc tommorrow.

Finally building my own machine! I'm spending about a grand, including operating software (unless I find a working pirated version of Windows 7), and because a friend of mine can get me some great parts at half price, I'm going to have a beast of a machine at least in comparison to the shitbuckets I've been using over the last few years.

Yeah, it looks pretty good so far. Just a few things. Make sure you get a hard disk drive to go with your SSD so you can store all your videos, music, games that don't need the extra fast load times, etc. Also, the stock Intel fans are notorious for not being so great. They're sufficient if you just want to run the CPU stock speeds, but if you'll need a better fan if you overclock at all. Not that you need to OC, the i7 3770k is a beast at stock.